Helmut

Sans titre

Author

Helmut (1945), Germany

Biography

Helmut (Helmut Nimczewski, 1945 or 1946) was born in Heidelberg, Germany. He was brought up by his mother and never knew his father. Retarded, probably as a result of brain damage caused by his epilepsy, he was put into various specialised institutions. After a long stay in a psychiatric hospital, he moved to a sheltered home in Hamburg. He likes going for walks and takes his camera along with him. He is very devout and never misses a service.

Helmut is a stickler for order, uniformity and exactitude. He is fascinated by crowds and draws in great detail the spectators at a football match or swimming championship sitting in tightpacked rows on the stands. The drivers and the passengers of the vehicles he draws always seem to be travelling in perfect harmony along clearly marked roads, straight rails, or over smooth seas. Helmut works directly with coloured pencil and felt pens, using bright colours, and spends about eight weeks on each drawing.